This invention describes a building accessory to accurately position and mark the location of where to cut a sheet or panel of a building material for a electrical junction box or other panel openings.
A marking device is normally used in conjunction with an electrical outlet box to mark a wall panel with the precise location of that outlet box so the panel can be cut to accommodate the same. In cutting the wall panel, even the most experienced craftsman sometimes experiences difficulties and must be careful in cutting through the interior wall of a building in order to get the right size opening at the proper location for the outlet box, which is located on the opposite side of the wall. Similarly, many “do-it-yourself” homeowners have difficulty in accurately locating and positioning the opening for an electrical junction box on sheet of building material; plus, there is always the challenge of keeping the opening, square and level.
In building construction, drywall sheets, which are commonly sold in 4 foot by 8 foot pieces or 4 foot by 10 foot pieces, are typically mounted on wall studs or ceiling rafters over electrical junction boxes. In order to locate the junction box, measurements relative to the walls, floor or ceiling are taken and then used to determine where the opening should be cut in order to reach the box. This is an inaccurate and time consuming way to locate the junction box.
Various methods and devices for locating electrical junction boxes have been proposed and/or implemented over the years. However, none of the known methods or devices can easily, reliably, quickly and precisely locate the utility boxes during construction.
One method places a paper template over the wall to one side of the framework, where the box is to be installed, marking the wall utilizing the template, cutting the gypsum board along the locations indicated by the markings, removing the cut portion of the gypsum board and inserting the box through the opening, and then attaching the box to the framework. This method is difficult to carry out without damaging the gypsum board or producing an installation that is correctly positioned, i.e. with the side edges of the box being in a straight vertical orientation and properly aligned with the side of the framework.
Another known method uses the utility box itself as the “template” for marking the wall. With this method, the utility box is held against the wall and the wall is marked by tracing around the box with a pen or pencil. The user may simultaneously hold a carpenter's level on top of the box, but simultaneously holding a level while tracing is not easy to do, since the top edges of some utility boxes are not regularly shaped, and the level can interfere with the tracing. In many cases, the installer merely “eyeballs” the correct position, resulting in irregularly-positioned utility boxes.
From the preceding descriptions, it is apparent that the devices currently being used have significant disadvantages. Thus, important aspects of the technology used in the field of invention remain amenable to useful refinement, including the need for an improved marking device for quickly and reliably locating the opening for a utility box on a sheet of building material.